Amphibious Clean-Up

While touring the Caltech campus the other day, my friend Barbara and I witnessed the finals of the 2008-2009 ME72 Engineering Design Contest, also known as Amphibious Clean-Up. You may have read about it here. The students had been working hard for months, and Tuesday was the culmination.

The young men standing on the bridge were about to throw lightweight balls into the water to serve as "floating debris." Amphibious robots then dove in, cleaned up the debris (well, some of it) and crawled out the other side, scoring points. The robots were cheered on by the crowd at Millikan Pond, an ordinarily tranquil body of water that lies shimmering outside the Millikan Library.

The pond would be a good place for students to gather between classes. Yet I remembered there hadn't been a soul around when I'd photographed it last February. Barbara said it's unusual to see many students hanging out on campus. At Caltech they have too much work to do to.

Tuesday, however, they were enjoying the fruits of their labors. At least the engineering students were. I got the impression they enjoy their work. If you can turn what you love into what you do for a living, you're creating the good life.

Caltech

I toured the Caltech campus yesterday afternoon. My friend Barbara works there, and was kind enough to show me around. I took tons of pictures. I gasped a lot, and not just at how pretty the place is.

Caltech is more than just a campus. It's a think tank, a treasure of astronomical history, and a bastion of scientific brainwork. It's where the great minds of yesterday, today and tomorrow come together to create science as art.

Changes are happening at Caltech, just like everywhere. More pics to come.

Appealing Court

The Richard H. Chambers U.S. Court of Appeals building is stunning on any day from any angle. But when you're walking in the Arroyo with clouds mumbling above, it's impossible to resist snapping away. Snap snap snap snap snap whine whine....oh, was I doing something else?

The building was originally a luxury hotel, though very little of the original structure remains. Between 1920 and 1937, four different architects took part in designing the new hotel. Sylvanus Marston, Garrett Van Pelt, Myron Hunt and George H. Wiemeyer all had a hand in creating the structure we see today. It was remodeled in the 1980s "under the design direction of" J. Rudy Freeman of Neptune & Thomas, and from what I hear it's magnificent inside. Since I've never been involved in a federal case, I haven't had the pleasure of finding out for myself.

Read the link. It sounds luscious. I need to see if I can get in there sometime. You know, just wander around a Federal Courts building and take pictures. Shouldn't be a problem.

Observers

This little-known gem is part of The Carnegie Observatories, a venerable institution that's been around since 1904, when George Hale got the idea to hit up the Carnegie institute for the money.

The simple, classically-styled building pops up at 813 Santa Barbara Street, a residential side street off of Lake Avenue. If traffic never got tight on Lake you might not know it was there. Hey! You can observe them! They give tours! And they're having an open house November 16th.

The plaque dedicates the building to George Ellery Hale, the first director of the Observatory, and notes that the "building was erected in 1912. Myron Hunt, Architect." Mr. Hunt designed many of Pasadena's most beautiful homes including that of Henry E. Huntington (now a gallery of the Huntington Library), as well as such other southern California landmarks as Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Pasadena's Public Library and the Rose Bowl.

Here's a side door. The sign in the window says "no skateboarding." I picture guys and gals with Einstein hair, whipping their wheels off that porch and onto the sidewalk.

The Climb Begins

Saturdays are busy on the Sam Merrill Trail, but yesterday was the first time I ever saw a troop of U.S. Marine Corps recruits take to the path. The sergeant (front row, center) was amenable when I asked if I could take a photo, but now that I look at it I'm not sure all the recruits wanted their picture taken. However, they were ordered into formation and they posed with their mascot, Banzai. This group is from the Pasadena Substation.

They're at the beginning of a learning process and it's not going to be easy. Already things were tough on the trail. One recruit had trouble keeping up; it was hot, the recruit wasn't in shape and the sergeant had to yell. It was going to be a long hike.

John and I did a short hike, part way up. On the way down we passed a brief altercation between the sergeant and a civilian hiker who thought the sergeant was being too harsh.

Archetypally, it was an argument between protector and protected.

That sparked a discussion between me and John about whether or not the Marines should have been training in public view on the Sam Merrill trail. It's clear we need a military, as unfortunate and medieval as that may be. And the training can be tough, it can get ugly. And although we well-protected, well-to-do, insulated non-military types benefit from it we don't want to be exposed to it, do we?

If you read my blog you know I'm one of those lefties who despise war, but I can tell the difference between the fight and the fighter. The young people I saw on the trail yesterday may end up as supply officers, soldiers, engineers, recruiters... Regardless, they volunteered to serve their country, our country. I don't know what sent them, whether they're escaping something or seeking something. I only know I'm grateful and I hope they find what they need. That recruit who struggled up the hill was struggling with more—with self and with Self. And there are bigger battles to come.

I wish them all safety and success.

Jupiter Moon

Thanks to JPL and Caltech, Pasadena's full of rocket scientists. There's one living across the street from me, a handsome guy who rides his bike to work and has better things to do than answer my questions about the sky. So when I want to know what's going on up there I check Stardate.

You'll have to click on this photo to enlarge it and see the giant star near the moon. It's been out for a while now. I figured it probably wasn't a star. Sure enough, it's Jupiter. Stardate says, "Even through the lunar glare, binoculars should reveal Europa and Jupiter's three other big moons. They look like tiny stars lined up quite close to the planet -- worlds with their own intriguing stories."

I don't have binoculars, but maybe you do. Get them ready. Jupiter will be out again tonight over your rooftop and mine.

The Real Thing

The Huntington. If you live around here you've probably been there—dragged through the galleries on a school trip as a kid or minding your manners in the tea room as an adult. If you're like me you go as often as you can to enjoy the gardens, galleries and exhibits. When blogger Katie of Katiefornia visited last week, our first stop was the Huntington. She and I both love to take photos, so I can promise you more to come.

We have Henry E. Huntington, Arabella Huntington and I suppose even Collis Huntington to thank for it all, as well as those who've come after them to manage the institution. It's only as far as San Marino, the community bordering Pasadena to the south. Yet the Huntington feels to me like a taste of Europe, Asia, the wide world. It's not the real thing, only a reproduction, but a day there feeds my wanderlust, if only briefly.

The Japanese Garden, pictured above, was used in a scene in Memoirs of a Geisha. You have to be as big as a movie studio to use the Huntington for your event. As perfect as it would be they don't hold weddings or private parties there. They'd be doing it all the time, wouldn't they? No, no, no. The Huntington is for the people.

Except the library. If you want to get an up-close look at a First Folio of Shakespeare or perhaps Benjamin Franklin's autograph autobiography, you must be a "qualified scholar." But there's always a library exhibit, so the unqualified scholars among us can occasionally view these treasures through glass. I've seen Galileo's handwriting only inches from my face. Not a reproduction. No, no, no. The real thing.

Memorial

Memorial Day was once called "Decoration Day." Loved ones gathered to decorate the graves of those who had fought for their country.

When I arrived at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena Saturday, someone had already been decorating the graves with small, identical American flags. A local veterans organization? Anyone know?

The soldier graves at Mountain View go back to the Civil War. The history contained in the place must be amazing. But this recent grave brought me to tears. It's not a blank stone; I photographed it from behind so as not to invade the family's privacy. This soldier's been in the ground three years. He was 22 when he died in Iraq.

When his family arrives at his grave today, they'll see that flag and know that others care. They won't know about my tears, but I hope they'll know that the loss of their "beloved son and brother"— as an individual and as a symbol of other individuals—is felt by other citizens of the world. Some of us feel he died for a cause. Some of us feel he died in vain. And in America, we still have a right to say so.

I live in California and my father, who was a Marine in World War II, is buried in Illinois. I hope someone decorated his grave with a flag today.

Quiet View

I visited Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena yesterday. I don't have loved ones buried there. My plan was to get a photo for Memorial Day, and I got plenty. I'll post one tomorrow, and perhaps more in the future.

Last week was stressful, and I guess I hadn't realized how much until the weekend came. Alone at the cemetery with my camera, late on a cool and cloudy day, my mind goes where it will. And it will go to thoughts of my mortality because I'm surrounded by the dead.

Why is that calming? Because I'm not dead. I'm here. Glad of it, too.

Stress be damned, I don't need it. It's a waste of my precious time.

Intimate Opera

Okay, right off: no ghosts. Nor did I sneak a photo last night (because, as Letty from Ararat mentioned in yesterday's comments, I'm a piker). This is the salon at the Fenyes Mansion where, 100 years ago, Eva Scott Fenyes held entertainments, and where last night a more modern group of Pasadenans (Pasadenyites?) were entertained by the outstanding Repertory Opera Company.

I'm not a qualified opera critic, but I'm qualified to know when I've enjoyed myself, and I had a wonderful time at Music in the Mansion. I've seen/heard the LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which is truly grand. But to hear Puccini's "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" sung in the intimacy of a room like the Fenyes salon is a rare experience. A powerful voice quickly fills a room like that, then it has to go somewhere. So it fills the listener, brimming up through the body and pushing out through the tear ducts.

And if the Puccini doesn't get you, Rossini's Cat Duet will.

They're going to have two more concerts: May 6th (take your mom for Mother's Day) and June 3rd (what the heck? take Dad).

At intermission, we ate chocolates and sipped champagne while mingling with the performers and other audience members in the dining room. The chandeliers glowed. The mansion was briefly ours.

Update: per Jeannette Bovard, Media Consultant at Pasadena Museum of History: "Information from the Collections Department at the Museum states that the owl was stuffed by Dr. Adalbert Fenyes. One of his many hobbies was ornithology."

Ghost Photos

I posted the other day about the Fenyes Mansion at the Pasadena Museum of History. I liked the idea of "Music in the Mansion," a series of opera concerts performed in the Victorian rooms of this 102-year-old Pasadena treasure. It's the type of entertainment the mansion's first owner, Eva Scott Fenyes, enjoyed. I find the idea haunting. In a good way.

Letty from Ararat Daily Photo (that's Ararat, Australia) entered a comment on that post: "Can you sneak in and take some secret photos? Go on - I dare ya!" From what I know about Letty she wasn't kidding. But I'm too chicken, plus my cat burglar outfit's at the dry cleaners'. But the Museum staff were nice enough to invite me to tonight's kick-off concert, so I'm gonna go hear me some opera singin' and I don't have to sneak!

If they let me take a photo (and if it's good enough) I'll post it tomorrow. And there will be photos of the mansion's interior in the future, that much I can promise. I'm told there are ghosts in the mansion. I don't believe in ghosts, but I'd love to capture one on film anyway.

Music in the Mansion

The Fenyes Mansion at the Pasadena Museum of History looks so bright in the sun it'll make you squint. I was nosing around on their website, and did you know they're going to have opera singers? In the mansion? That's so intimate. And so—I don't know—rich.

It's called Music in the Mansion: Timeless Treasures, and the first of three concerts is Tuesday, April 8th. (Go here and scroll down.) You still have time to call for reservations at 626-577-1660, ext. 10.

If opera's not your thing, there's other stuff to do at the PM of H: wander the gardens, browse the museum exhibits, tour the Fenyes Mansion.

My favorite thing about the mansion: almost all the furnishings are original, down to the lace curtains imported by the original owner more than 100 years ago. That's not only rich, it's rare. And so—I don't know—intimate.

Filing Cabinet

I heard a story on the radio the other day about a town in the Inland Empire where the homeless live in an area designated for their use. But now the local government is kicking out people who can't show proof of their "connection" to the town--like a driver's license or a utility bill. The city can't handle everyone. They don't have the resources.

I know I paint Pasadena as perfect. I do that because I love it here. But like any town in SoCal, we have homeless citizens to care for. I knew about Pasadena's Union Station Foundation, an agency serving the poor and homeless. It's about a quarter mile from where I took this photo. With a bit of research I found Pasadena Social Services, which led me to this site about Pasadena's ten-year strategy to end homelessness.

To me that seems a better approach than getting rid of people by asking them into producing orderly paperwork from chaotic lives. A homeless person with a utility bill!

One City, Many Stories

With one of the best independent bookstores this side of the Mississippi, a popular annual city-wide reading program and ten library branches within the city limits, Pasadena is a reader's paradise. In this town, you can buy or order just about any book you want. If you'd rather check it out, there's a good chance you'll find it at the Pasadena Public Library branch near you. Lazy? Stay home and look it up online.

On days like this you might want to enjoy your book outdoors. These palm trees grace the facade of the Central Library at 285 East Walnut Street. Grab a cup of coffee and sit on the patio at Central Grounds. You can see the trees from there if you can get your nose out of your book.

Ancient and Accepted Riddle

The Sphinx at Thebes posed a riddle to travelers and killed them when they got it wrong. This sphinx, at 150 N. Madison Avenue, made me stop on the way to an errand today. Wait a minute! Have I not been on this block before? What is this place?

Carved into the facade of the building was the answer: the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

I was still stumped. So when I got home I looked it up on the web. I read the Wikipedia article about the Ancient and Accepted Scottish rite, and though it was in English I didn't understand it. All I got out of it was that it's a branch of Freemasonry. I was still stumped. I found the website for the Pasadena Branch, which was more enlightening. They've been in existence since 1895, and are now housed in this beautifully restored 1925 structure. They do the things that Freemasons do, but they do them in the way of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.

Which means I'm still stumped.

This much I know: they have a Childhood Language Center, "committed to providing quality services to young children with speech and language disorders." And it's free.

So I haven't figured out the answer to the riddle of this sphinx. But whatever the Scottish Rite is, I'm thinking it's a good thing.

Bragging Rights

Pictured here is the Millikan Library, named for Robert Andrews Millikan, an experimental physicist who joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in 1917, back when it was still called the Throop College of Technology. Millikan earned the 1923 Nobel Prize in physics "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect."

Before you start thinking Millikan was some kind of big deal, get this: more than one in 1,400 Caltech alumni have received the Nobel Prize. That's better than any other university, anywhere. Them's good odds. (Grammar's not a Caltech specialty.)

Other Caltech Nobel laureates include Linus Pauling (who received two Nobel Prizes: the Peace Prize and the Prize for Chemistry), William A. Fowler, Carl D. Anderson and Edward B. Lewis. Oh and a certain Albert Einstein was a visiting Caltech professor back in the day.

It's possible I could have a future Nobel laureate for a neighbor. Seriously. I already have a rocket scientist living across the street.

When I was in college, nerds were not cool. Times change.